1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for printing quasi random number tables and has been devised particularly though not solely for printing tables for games of chance.
2. Background Art
This invention is a development of the printing apparatus described in my granted U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,451,333 and 4,601,239. In those specifications there is described a flexographic printing press which can be set up to print quasi random number tables for games of chance. These tables are seldom true random number tables but incorporate a very large number of variables which are eventually repeated after a large number of tables have been printed. To the end user, however, each table appears to incorporate a matrix of apparently random numbers and is referred to throughout this specification as a "quasi random number table".
The apparatus described in my U.S. patents referred to above is very effective in a large number of situations but requires the use of an entire flexographic press which may not always be available in some printing situations. Furthermore, the size of the table printing cylinders which may be utilized in a flexographic press is limited due to the physical constraints of the press and therefore the number of different tables which can be printed before the sequence of apparently random numbers begins to repeat is also limited. The number of different tables which can be printed would be increased if larger table printing cylinders could be used, but these cannot be physically accommodated on a conventional flexographic press.
The central impression press described in my above referenced U.S. patent specifications is also limited to printing on flexible webs such as paper or sheet plastics film. It is some times desirable to print quasi random number tables for games of change onto cylindrical objects such as soft drink cans, paper cups, cardboard tubes or the like.